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fees reimbursement, and other rou- private school managements “lakhs of businessmen. It’s a matter of com-
tine administrative functions. rupees”. In addition, schools have to mon knowledge that corruption is
“Due to irresponsible behaviour pay bribes of up to 30-40 percent of deeply entrenched in the education
and greediness of our education min- the amount owed to private schools ministry regardless of the government
ister, private unaided schools are as reimbursement for admitting poor in office, and that education ministry
facing unbearable hazards. We have neighbourhood children under s. 12 officials have made large illegal for-
brought our plight to the notice of our (1) (c) of the RTE Act. tunes by extracting huge bribes from
honourable chief minister on several Unsurprisingly, education minis- private school promoters represented
occasions, but in vain. But the educa- ter Nagesh indignantly denies these by shady ‘consultants’ whose exper-
tion minister is clever enough to ma- charges. “RUPSA has made baseless tise is to make pay-offs and manage
nipulate in connivance with depart- allegations against me and the de- the system.
ment officials. They give scant respect partment. If they have any proof and With the legislative assembly polls
to the chief minister’s instructions and documents, why didn’t they lodge a scheduled next summer, rising public
throw our appeals into the dustbin. complaint until now? We will take indignation about unchecked corrup-
Because of this, thousands of private necessary action if there is proof,” he tion under its watch bodes ill for the
schools, especially in educationally says. BJP whose leadership regards Karna-
backward districts like Bidar are left However, such denials cut little ice taka as its gateway to states of pen-
with no option but closure,” says the in the academy and among private insular India. With teaching-learning
letter to the PM signed by RUPSA school promoters in Bengaluru which standards in the state’s 49,000 gov-
president Lokesh Talikatte. hosts 3,500 private schools including ernment schools declining, the open
RUPSA claims that last August top-ranked globally benchmarked revolt of private schools against bra-
(2021) renewal of registration/rec- schools such as Indus International, zen institutionalised corruption in the
ognition certificates, which was man- Inventure Academy, Vidyashilp which education ministry may well upend its
dated every 10 years, was reduced to educate the progeny of the garden electoral strategy.
annual renewal. This change has cost city’s upscale IT professionals and Reshma Ravishanker (Bengaluru)

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